Scratched Surfaces
by Lord gurOtaku
Summary: Chapter 4: In a somewhat karmic twist, the Teen Titans find themselves with two prisoners of war in their tower. Their biggest challenge is keeping them incarcerated, but the appearance of an old friend may make that task harder than predicted.
1. A Sticky Situation

_Hope y'all haven't gone and forgotten me. Put simply, my last attempt at this (after a few months) I felt became too broad and mixed in way too many things. I felt that while certain events/parts were cool, it was losing the flavor of "Teen Titans" and becoming "Near-stream-of-consciousness-crossover-hell"._

_Well, I'm back and giving this story another go. There will be some noticeable differences and there will be some easily spotted similarities._

_Hope you're ready._

**Chapter 1: A Sticky Situation**

The morning sun rose over the distant horizon, casting a bright glow upon the land, lengthening the shadows of anything caught within it. People awoke, shuffling about their kitchens, searching for coffee or whatever they used to brace themselves for a day's onslaught. They moved about, slowly becoming more cheerful than others and enjoying the sun's warming glow.

Sadly, the warming glow also had at least one person sweating. Eryth appeared to the casual observer to be a teenage boy, perhaps late teens, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were hidden by sunglasses, and a jagged red tattoo looking more like a scar than anything covered the left side of his face. _Perhaps, _he reflected, _I might not be sweating were I wearing something different._ His black, knee-length coat had been torn in several battles, and was now patched in a rather odd manner with criss-crossing lines of duct tape. His pants were of a similar design; black, though without the tape repair job. Most of his appearance was normal, but the human features were an illusion, nothing more than a hologram.

He stepped through the streets, occasionally sending water from the previous night's storm spraying out under his feet, the two chains hanging from the front of his belt draping down to the back clinked threateningly, giving the goth-apparent a distinctly creepy air about him. He strolled casually through the streets whistling a rapid tune to a metal ballad. He knew his destination, and had mixed feelings about it. The Teen Titans were a superhero group, and he was apparently going to be the newest member. He didn't dread the idea of joining them, but didn't particularly seem enthralled by it either. The only one he had ever spoken with face to face was a red-headed alien, and her personality had clashed with his on first sight, when she failed to interpret the meaning of "shut up".

VVVRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

Something black flashed by in the puddle-filled street alongside him, and Eryth stood dripping, eyes blazing furiously behind the black sunglasses as he watched the sports car speed by.

_Tony Stark must have had an odd sense of humor, _ He realized _when he designed these. They are still showing parts of me I have been hiding._ He was glaring at the receding car, and his teeth ground together furiously, revealing his fangs. He realized that he was letting his control slip again and managed to regain what composure a drenched-to-the-bone teenager could.

Then he had an idea.

He looked down at his gloves, which had holes allowing his fingers to show. They were studded with spikes. Sharp spikes. No one would find it odd that someone with such accessories and a strange personality as his would be doing something like he was about to. Looking up at a building across the street, he saw that it was still under construction. Turning, he ran out into traffic, sprinting, halting and leaping around the cars. Bracing himself, he leapt at the building, clinging to the sheer surface. Once he had gained a height level with one of the cranes, he braced himself and leapt.

On the way down, he was relieved to see that the sports car was held up at a busy intersection. Grinning, he caught the crane cable, his momentum swinging him and sending him flying up and over the vehicles at an alarming speed. He was beginning to descend now on the sports car, intent on giving the driver a nasty surprise, when a black and red blur shot out of the blue and slammed into him.

"OOLPH!"

Eryth and the mystery assailant tumbled through the air and crashed into the roof of a nearby building. Both recovered their footing at the same time. The half-wolf assumed a combat stance, but was whipped back and hanging upside down by his feet before he could do anything. Rotating, he flipped upwards, moving with the uppercut, and passed his hands over the webbing holding him. The strands snapped immediately, and he found himself facing someone who looked somewhat like a teenage clone of Spider-Man. The costume itself was mostly black, save for stylized red web patterning along the sides of his boots and gloves. The chest, back, and shoulder area was also red, laced over in black webbing with a massive spider whose legs wrapped around his torso and connected at the back. The mask itself was entirely black, save for a thin red line around the eyelenses. The costume did its job in hiding and no sign of the wearer's face could be seen.

Eryth's eyes widened. _I didn't think Webs would be showing up here._

"Changed costumes, silk-brain?"

The spider-mimic stared back.

"Eryth? Whoa..you shaved..."

"No, I just got an image inducer from the Xavier before I left." the teenager said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small device that looked like a tiny remote control. "They wouldn't have let me on the plane if I hadn't used it. I don't think we'll run into any paranoid people while we're here, so I can probably lose this thing."

"Hold onto it man. You look like you could actually get a girl that way." Webs quipped.

Eryth's eyes narrowed. "Speaking of girls, Beast says you're still the most annoying ladies man there is."

"Is that so?" Webs asked, looking offended.

"He says Kid Flash has ten times the flirting skills that you do."

"Aw, now you're just being mean. Wait..." he said, realizing something. "Did you go back to Xavier's?"

"More like dragged back." Eryth sighed, remembering the first time he had gone berserk. He, and the people in the area had Nightcrawler to thank for keeping the moment casualty-free. Despite incredible fighting skills, the black-haired teen still lived with the fear of his rage breaking loose.

"So," his friend asked, "Where are you off to?"

He handed him the datapad from Xavier. His friend's eyes bulged.

"You're kidding me," he said, disbelieving..

"Nope. Me, the freak with a twisted perception of the world, and they want me with the Teen Titans. I don't get it either." he said, shrugging.

"No, no, its not that. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

They leapt from the building, Eryth's boots leaving dents in a semi, and the spider-wannabe swinging on ahead a little ways before looping back, landing gracefully on the back of the vehicle.

Eryth looked at him, realizing something.

"Hold on," he said, eyes narrowing "Dare I ask what you meant by "on the way"?"

"Ah, well, it seems Pops felt I'd need some time with people of my kind."

"Then why's he sending you to the Teen Titans?"

"Your sense of humor is biting. But no worse than your bark, or your breath for that matter."

Eryth shrugged, figuring the argument was becoming pointless anyway. Finding himself alongside his wise-ass childhood friend couldn't be too bad, provided Harry didn't annoy the hair off him.

Webs yawned.

"Gettin' dark out dude, I'll put forth the vote we stop in a hotel."

"For once you have my agreement." Eryth replied dryly.

_Ah well_, he thought, _At least nothing could go wrong between here and there._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"Good morning!" Someone shouted happily, her jubilant voice slicing like a knife through the dark cover known as sleep.

_Too happily_, Raven thought. _Of course, its Starfire. Only she would be persistent enough to try every possible combination to get into my bedroom_. Raven opened her eyes, rubbing sleep from them with the back of one hand.

"Starfire," she said, deadpan and tired, "What are you doing in my room?"

"Oh I am sorry Raven, but I needed something for Grib-Yalup; the Tameranian Day of Imitation."

Yawning, the sleepy teen's eyes finally focused.

And bulged in shock.

Starfire was indeed standing there, but not in her usual attire. She appeared to be wearing Robin's pants, and boots, combined with One of Beast Boy's tofu-stained shirts. She'd even found a piece of metal and a red diode, which she'd stuck over one eye. Raven watched, utterly confused, but not showing it as Starfire went over to her closet.

"Oh you are not thinking of..." she began.

It was too late. Starfire had grabbed the cape and sprinted out the door before Raven could finish the sentence.

For Raven, a morning shower usually served two purposes; to get cleaned up, and to give herself a proper wake up.

_Well, Star's spoiled the latter with her enthusiasm_ She thought, drying herself and putting on one of her usual black leotards before grabbing an extra cape and walking downstairs. As she walked in, she felt something tug on her waist, pulling her forwards slightly. Raven looked down.

First one of her capes, now her belt. She wondered if what her friend would do next. _Fortunately _she realized, _my shoes would take more effort to get off, and she already has Robin's footwear anyway_.

The other team members were already eating as Raven entered, deciding to start with tea before moving onto an actual meal. She didn't think she could sit at the table right then anyway, not with Starfire there.

Cyborg had been up earlier than any of the others, getting waffles ready. He certainly seemed to like feeding them to everyone at breakfast, usually making too much batter in his enthusiasm for the hot syrupy things.

The room's atmosphere changed noticeably when Starfire entered. Cyborg suddenly seemed to think that the batter needed "just a bit of extra stirring", and her half machine friend's back was soon facing them as he stirred, shaking not from exertion, but from suppressed laughter at Starfire's appearance.

Robin's reaction was much like Raven's. He seemed to tolerate the alien's odd appearance, though only just. The expression on his face told Raven that he wished she were in her usual attire, and not dressed so strangely.

Beast Boy would usually talk while eating, and thus wind up spitting food occasionally, but this time he was spewing without talking, and he fell off his seat choking from giggles.

"Friend Beast Boy, are you alright?" Starfire asked, getting up and walking around to the other side of the table. If anything, Beast Boy not seeing her appearance had helped, but upon seeing her again, he burst out into a hacking giggle, and immediately began choking.

Sighing, exasperatedly, Raven stood up from where she was on the couch, and walking over, kicked Beast Boy's chest as hard as she could. She pulled her foot back to avoid the mess he hacked up from his position on the floor.

"What made him ill?" Starfire asked.

"I think you are imitating too many people." Raven said. She shut her mouth quickly, realizing what she had just said.

"Ah! How right you are. I shall only impersonate one person." the redhead said proudly, before flying off.

"She gone yet?" Cyborg asked, his back still turned towards them.

"Star's only dressing like one of us now." Robin said

"That's some good news," he said. Turning, he grinned cheerfully. "Anyone still up for more waffles?"

"As soon as my brain cells stop killing themselves." Raven said, raising the book again.

"N-none for me.." Said Beast Boy, "Raven, you could have killed me!" he shouted, managing to regain the full use of his voice.

"And what a tragedy that would be." Raven sighed, sitting down. She realized her remark might have been a bit ruder than intended, but then again, her morning so far had not been a pleasant one.

And it was about to get worse.

"Raven!" Someone- and she knew how- shouted from behind her. "I am now imitating only one person!"

Cyborg dropped the bowl of batter, and the glass container shattered on the floor. Beast Boy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he turned. Robin only glanced, but wound up jabbing himself in the chin with a forkful of his breakfast when he did.

Knowing what was coming, Raven turned around and looked. Even she had to admit, Starfire had done a good job.

With what at first seemed to be a wig, but Raven realized to be hair dye, Starfire had dyed her hair in only ten minutes. Raven had changed the password again, and didn't care to know how her friend had deciphered it so fast, but Starfire was now a taller, orange-skinned twin to the mystic. She'd even used a diamond-shaped shard from the diode and glued it to her forehead.

Raven's eyes narrowed as she fought to hold back a slight giggle at her friend's ridiculous appearance.

"Starfire, please tell me you will not be seen in public like that." she said.

"But it is the Tameranian Day of Imitation." she said. "I must dress in imitation of someone."

Debate on the topic was stalled however, as the alarm decided to go off at that point.

"Titans, GO!"

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"So, any idea on how to get over to the tower?" Webs asked that morning staring at the T-shaped structure out on the island..

"I thought you were supposed to have a plan." Eryth said.

"Can you doggy-paddle?"

"I am dying from laughter."

"Well, then that means you won't get to the tower."

"As I said,-"

"Well, you're not dead, so unless you want me to kill you, I'd like to hear some real ideas on how we get to the tower."

"I didn't hear you coming up with any." Eryth replied, keeping his voice flat.

"So then, looks like we doggy-paddle."

"Ok, never mind then."

Webs was silent. Eryth's ears twitched.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

"I hear nothing."

"Good, lets keep it that way."

An explosion forestalled any further conversation.

"What the?" Webs said, turning around. Eryth whirled, seeing debris flying behind them.

"I swear, if its another over-muscled guy, claiming to be the strongest there is, I'm going to be mad," the Sonic Spider said as he and Eryth sped off across the rooftops, the webspinner looping around several times due to his greater speed. "Hey, any reason you never got a super-snappy nickname like mine?"

"The more names you have, the more fun people can make of you." Eryth answered, dropping off the side of one building and kicking off from it towards another before scrambling to the rooftop.

"And how come you never got a costume? Spandex attracts chicks like there's no tomorrow!"

"And it rides up in the crotch." Eryth finished.

"But at least its more attractive than black, more black, chains and spikes." Webs said eagerly, still not understanding his friend's clothing preferences.

"Only in your own little world." Eryth sighed.

"Dude, you could show of your muscles more if you wore spandex!" Webs grinned, stopping and perching atop a chimney.

"Of course, and then I'd attract one of those girls with no common sense whatsoever."

"That's only in comic books and TV shows."

"This isn't TV, Harry."

"Speak for yourself fuzzy. Its weird enough. Some freaky lady tried to seduce me on my way here and all I wanted was a haircut. I might have stayed if my spider-sense hadn't been going off like crazy."

"That thing still works fine then?" Eryth asked, cutting power to a nearby office complex by slashing a power line and swinging down almost to street level before the slack gave out and pulled him back up to rooftop level.

He was promptly knocked off the line by a large crystal orb and sent crashing into the pavement below. Groaning, he got up, feeling one wrist already broken from the fifty foot drop. "Ah crud.."

He ducked another attack, this time it was a small rocket that spun wildly and blew the area into a cloud of debris and smoke. His ears twitched and he spun around just in time to see a hand rush at his face. Bringing one hand up, he blocked the black hand, instinctively spinning its owner-

-into thin air? His ears twitched again at the sound of rushing air behind him and he spun in a kick that knocked the assailant backwards. He briefly wondered where his friend was, but Webs' body flying by answered the question for him. Flipping forward and catching sight of several others, he would have landed a solid kick to the dark attacker's chest, but another orb hit him and he suddenly found himself sealed inside a bluish orb. Noticing Webs in a similar trap, he managed to get a look at the attackers.

_Oh no. _ He thought. _Its another group of the kids in silly outfits._ His initial attacker looked like the storekeeper had run out of the good costumes and sold the guy a batman outfit that had soon been cut up and worn as though the buyer had tried too hard to look cool. _ Villain number two looks like a total weirdo, but that eye thing seems to be what trapped us._ Eryth thought, making a mental note to watch out for the one-eyed boy. The third and fourth were easily the most bizarre. One was a girl who looked like she did most of her shopping at Hot Topic, and decided to style her hair in the most startling manner possible. Despite the odd appearance, her casual grace suggested that she was quite fast and not one to be toyed with. The other was something that could have passed off as a badly mutated version of his friend; a boy with a spider's head. Had she not been standing with them, Eryth wouldn't have even counted the fifth member as one of the group. She was wearing black flares, a white tank top, and a blue denim jacket. _hardly the most intimidating of villains. _ Eryth thought before Webs spoke up from inside his eye.

"Are you guys from the lame-legion?" he shouted, voice echoing flatly in the sphere.

"Depends if you're from th-" the pink-haired one started before her blonde ally opened her mouth.

"Lame? Oh my god! This clothing is the latest fash-"

"Quiet." the first speaker said. "Before I regret my decision to allow you on this team."

"Little team-friction there?" Eryth called before the girl swung her arm out with a flash, causing the street itself apart and send the eye spinning into the air. Skittering out, the spider-head caught the eye and Eryth with two of his front legs and tossed it over to the other girl.

_Yep...stronger than she looks..._Eryth thought as the blonde managed to slap him back over to the half-spider. _I feel like a volleyball..._

"Well they're having fun." Jinx sighed, looking over at the other trapped hero. "Hey, stop goofing off and lets get these two back to the Academy!"

Webs grinned up at her from his seat in the orb. "Don't you wanna handle those guys first?" he asked casually.

See-More, Kid Wykyyd and Jinx whipped around to see what he was talking about, and Webs used the moment to crawl forward inside the eye at great speed, rocketing into her and knocking the sorceress flat as he made a rather awkward bid for freedom with a cheeky "Woohoo!"

"After him!" Jinx shouted, leaping into the air and grabbing See-More's wrists as his eye stretched, inflated and carried them into the sky. Below them, Wykyyd folded his cloak in and shot into the ground. Kitten and Fang seemed reluctant to follow, but the spider-villain webbed Eryth to the side of a building -still in his trap- before swinging to the skyscraper surfaces with his girlfriend.

Eryth sat there, twenty feet up in the air with a broken wrist and wishing he'd brought a book along. He didn't wait long before he heard a voice and found himself staring straight at a pair of large green eyes almost hidden by a blue hood.

"You are not up here by choice, are you?" Starfire asked.


	2. Love & War

_Whoo...and I'm already __getting responses over AIM.  
_

_Yes, Kitten is on a HIVE team here. I've long held the theory that since her dad's strong enough to handle Cyborg, and Kitten herself matched Starfire in a fight; Killer Moth's little girl has some level of superhuman strength/durability as well._

_I checked spelling, and I apologize for a minor misspelling. The batman-wannabe in HIVE is "Wykkyd" with two k's and two y's instead of three y's and one k._

_**Quar:** While your favorite webhead may not fight any girls in this chapter, there's a good chance he will in later ones._

_ **Raze:** Whoo...a long review. This chapter's largely fighting, but don't worry. There will be some casual/conversation moments in the next ones._

_ **Psycho Tangerine:** Um..thanks for the review. Nice to see someone new reading this  
_

**Chapter 2: Love & War**

The day had not been going well.

First it was his friend's persistent taunting. His first encounter with the city's villains hadn't gone well at all.

Now he was trapped on the side of a skyscraper and directly in the blistering sun's rays.

To make matters worse, the only person capable of rescuing him didn't get it.

Not by a long shot

Eryth stared back at Starfire, his now-red eyes narrowed against her green ones through See-More's trap. "Oh no, I love it up here." he growled. "I've always wanted to obtain an injury before being trapped up on the side of a building in a little ball."

"Oh that is glorious!" the tameranian cheered, her face split by the biggest grin the trapped teenager had had seen in his life. "I am glad, for it was my fear that you had been trapped up here against your will."

"Have you ever heard of sarcasm?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then you know what it is?

"It is what Raven uses on Beast Boy when he annoys her."

"You do not look satisfied. Is that not the answer you were hoping for?" she asked, confused. He seemed grouchy and in a very bad mood because of his situation, but at the same time he seemed to like being miserable.

"Oh its just the answer I was looking for." he said, wondering if the hooded girl was stupid, playing around, or actually not understanding the point he was trying to make.

"Excellent." she smiled. "I shall inform the others that you are comfortable where you are and that we do not need to release you."

She flew off, feeling glad that she had done as he'd asked, but still confused by his coarse, almost rude manner.

Eryth was completely struck dumb by what had just happened and his momentary speechlessness left him unable to call out to her for release.

_I suppose I could always blast my way out._ He thought, looking down and being thankful that the streets in his area were devoid of much activity. _But I'd only destroy the image inducer, and I'd rather not draw too much attention until I'm settled in at the tower._

He sat there, stuck in the eyeball and fuming.

The day was definitely not going well.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The day could not have been going better.

A quick breakfast and shower in the hotel, and a pleasant finish on their way to the tower. Webs had managed thus far to get in his daily taunting of Eryth, meet two female villains, one of whom looked hot enough to flirt with, and managed to get away in a manner that seemed humiliating enough for the bad guys.

Then he remembered that he'd left Eryth behind.

_Hmm, go back and get my buddy, or keep having fun? _he thought.

The decision didn't take long however, as he could hear the angry shouts of Jinx and the others behind him.

"Guess I'll keep having fun." he shrugged and shot down main street like a wayward marble.

"There he is!" Jinx shouted, from her position in the air with See-more. "Get him before he reaches the bridge!"

"We're on it." Fang hissed, racing along the sides of the glass-paneled skyscrapers with Kitten in his arms.

Down below and in front of Webs, the ground shifted, and the web-spinner began weaving in and out of the dark patches where Wykkyd was spreading his cloak, trying to stop the hero from making it out of the city proper. It was a more restricted method of travel than what the spider-hero was used to, but he was getting used to it.

"I should see if I can keep this thing later on." he said to himself. as he shot along the street. "Now I hope I can make it to the bridge."

Above him, a small green hawk flew silently ahead and landed gently on one of the towers that held the bridge up. Shaking its wings out, it dropped the small yellow and black disc it had held in its beak and flipped back; clothing forming seemingly from nothingness as Beast Boy resumed his normal form high above the speeding cars below. He held the communicator in one hand and turned his lower half green again, shifting his legs into the tentacled form of an octopus to maintain his grip on the high and windy tower.

"BB to Robin, you there?"

"Robin here!" Came the crackled voice over the communicator. "Beast Boy, report!"

"Okay, we got a few Hive dudes chasing a runaway eyeball with a spider and your girlfriend."

"What?" Robin shocked voice shouted, rising in pitch slightly.

"That daughter of Killer Moth's." Beast Boy grinned, glad that he was not within arm's reach of his leader and friend. "You know, the one you had to take to the _prom_?"

"I know! What's she doing with the Hive?"

"Probably hoping you'll show up." the green titan said happily.

"Beast Boy..." Robin growled, leaving the shapeshifter with the image of the Titans' leader grinding his teeth into powder from stress.

He could just see the sparks flying.

"Ah. heheh. Just a bit of fun. You kn-" he began before the Boy Wonder cut him off

"Where are they?" Groaned Robin, sounding pressed for time.

"Nowhere special. Just heading for bridge and out of the city." he said, squinting slightly. "Want me to take 'em?"

"I'll tell Cyborg and Raven to intercept them from the north side. We'll meet up there and coordinate our attack. Robin out!"

Beast Boy clicked off his communicator, and snickered to himself. The exhilaration of combat would make his leader forget that the little taunt about Kitten had ever happened.

At least, he hoped it would.

Maintaining his grip on the edge of the bridge tower, Beast Boy looked below him to the roadway, hoping to catch sight of the other titans. He quickly spotted the familiar blue and white shape.

"Not even moving a mile an hour." he grinned, imagining Raven's expression.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Raven sighed from her seat in the T-Car. Her face was set with a mask of exasperation and anger at her friend's planning. _ We had to come out near the other entrance and its taking forever. We could have caught the Hive Five by now if Robin hadn't insisted on this two-sided attack._ Her thoughts were either very forceful or strong enough to have pushed out through her mouth as Cyborg glanced over and spoke.

"Something bothering ya, Rae?"

"Only the fact that we have moved ten feet in the past five minutes." she sighed "Besides that, no."

"Heheh," the half-human chuckled nervously. "I didn't think we'd be stuck in traffic."

"Being heroes doesn't give us the freedom to drive as we please." Raven said.

"We got away with it when I first built this thing."

"That was because it was nine o'clock and there were no other cars on that winding road."

"Um.." Cyborg grinned as a comical bead of sweat dripped down his bald head. "We've moved two feet now."

"Ugh."

Cyborg drummed his fingers agitatedly on the wheel. "Three feet?"

Raven shot him a nasty look that held a "Don't even start..." suggestion in its withering gaze.

"Hey..sensors detect something heading this way." he said suddenly, looking at the display on the dashboard that showed several blips heading towards their position at the center of the bridge.

Cyborg leaned out the window, sticking his head into the unpleasant smell of car exhaust to get a better view of what was coming.

A giant eyeball that was letting out whoops of hilarity shot past them.

"I think we found our targets." Raven said, eyes glowing. "Keep this thing steady."

Her eyes shut as her soul-self peeled away from her face and out of her body, shooting through the roof and into the air.

"Just ge-HEY!" Cyborg shouted as something heavy hit the hood of the car and scrambled over the roof before pushing off and leaping to another car. Quickly, the metal titan leaned out the window and caught sight of Fang skidding across other vehicles "Aw you did not just do that."

Getting out but staying near the car, Cyborg unfolded his arm, taking careful aim, and let loose a high-intensity blast from his sonic cannon. The first several shots missed when Fang began rapidly zig-zagging across sides of the bridge and making aiming difficult.

The drivers behind the T-Car were starting to honk their horns.

"He, just wait one minute!" Cyborg yelled angrily as he kept up the fire. Fang's human legs were suddenly seized in a pair of shadowy fists and the mutant spider-boy found himself swung into the path of Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"Boo-yah." he whispered, smiling.

Fang was nailed in the back and sent squealing off the bridge and into the ocean.

Cyborg reshaped the cannon into its normal arm structure and turned back to the T-car, dusting his hands off and grinning at the impatient drivers behind him.

"You!"

The metal hero was kicked in the stomach and sent flying to the ground.

"Hurt!"

Getting up, he almost got a look at the attacker before a sneaker slammed him in the chin and flipped him completely over, leaving him winded.

"My!"

He managed to roll and avoid the next hit, springing to his feet and aiming the fully charged sonic cannon as he did so.

"Boyfriend!" Kitten finished, face flushed as she cracked her knuckles. She was standing frighteningly at ease before him as though she regularly knocked people his size off their feet with no effort.

Cyborg was completely baffled. "Hey, when did you..."

Kitten slammed him to the ground in a shoulder tackle and swung her arm across his face.

_Aw man, I been slapped by a girl. That's not supposed to happen._ Cyborg winced, reaching up with one hand and grabbing the wild child by her coat collar.

"Go back to annoyin' Rob will ya?" he suggested holding the screaming girl a good two feet off the ground. His grimace deepened as he heard the dull thunk of a newspaper hitting his other arm.

"Beating on little girls! For shame!" an old lady in a nearby car shouted, her bifocals shaking and falling off her face to the road surface with a clatter.

"Hey, I'm the one who got hit fi-" he began before Kitten swung her legs out and knocked him back into the hood of another car further long the bridge. "Geez. Now I know why Starfire didn't pound you flat." he groaned.

"You tell 'im girl!" the old woman shouted encouragingly before Kitten used the moment to kick the spectacles out of the woman's reach and sprint off after Cyborg. "Well I never..." she huffedd.

Getting out of the car and muttering angrily, she made to retrieve the now-broken frames, but a black platform boot crunched down on them removing all chance of repair..

"My mistake." Jinx said sweetly, looking down at her. Turning her foot and grinding the cracked lenses to powder, she turned to the one-eyed boy next to her. "See-more, make sure those titans aren't nearby and unoccupied."

Eye rolling around and back, the cyclopean villain spun his field of vision until it landed a short distance away on the T-Car. His expression turned into a grin and the eye spun back to its normal position "Hey, looks like one of them decided to take a nap."

"Poor choice." Jinx said, walking towards the car. She was only a few feet away when a dark shadow shot out of the street in front of her, winglike-cloak spreading. The two HIVE graduates' expressions changed to shock as they stepped back instinctively. The shadow rose before them; eyes glowing with an ethereal light.

Kid Wykkyd stood before his two companions, staring at the twin looks of surprise on their faces. His head was tilted to one side slightly as though he couldn't understand why they had backed away from him like he was an enemy.

"Don't do that again." Jinx snarled, pushing past him and heading for the near-abandoned vehicle. "Well well well, if it isn't-"

A dark shadow shot out of the street in front of her, winglike-cloak spreading. The HIVE graduates' expressions changed to shock as they stepped back instinctively. The shadow rose before them; eyes glowing with an ethereal light as a swarm of dark tentacles fanned out from the depths of the shroud.

"Wykkyd..." she started before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Cat-like eyes flickering down briefly, she noticed it was the black gloved hand of her teammate.

Kid Wykkyd was right next to her, and the shadow was in front of her. No, it was around her.

At first Raven had found the dark being Jinx called "wicked" to be an annoying mockery and a sad parody. Her annoyance was alleviated however, when she realized that she could just as easily be mistaken for an ally of the HIVE with the dark one around. Her soul-self had walled them in easily and held them prisoner with ease. Before she could act from her seat in the car however, her field of vision suddenly took on a pale red tint.

_What do you think you are doing my dear?_ a pleasantly smooth voice asked in her head.

Her soul-self faltered as a crimson glow spread through her mind. _What are y-_

The voice rose to a near-shriek and deafened her.

_Do not ask questions, insolent child! You will release your hold on my students!_

Jinx blinked, slightly confused as the shadow faded from around them and the form in the T-Car slumped forward in its seat, head hitting the dashboard with a dull thud.

"What was that?" the pink-haired sorceress asked, looking around.

"Who knows, but we get a free prisoner out of it!" See-more said happily, sprinting towards the unguarded car with an ever-cheery smile on his face.

The HIVE trio were almost upon the car, backs turned to their prey when

"Aw no ya don't!" Cyborg yelled, grabbing See-more and Wykkyd each in one metal fist before he was knocked off his feet by Jinx. Rolling across the suddenly disintegrating bridge surface, he came to his feet, cannon out. "Feeling a little nasty today are we?" he grimaced, letting out one blast from the sonic cannon before he had to duck another spell. "Your gang's gettin' meaner." he said nervously, ducking an eye. "It took me an' BB to take out that crazy girl of yours!"

"Monkey meets Kitty, whaddaya know?" See-more laughed, distracting Cyborg with several exploding-eyes while Wykkyd's brand of phasing allowed him to evade most of the titan's attacks. Jinx hwoever did not lunge or attack immediately, evidently waiting for her cohorts to weaken Cyborg before she moved in herself.

Before Cyborg could take the offensive side again however, See-more's eye had clicked around and let out a stream of tiny golden eyeballs. Cyborg instinctively smashed one and blasted another before the remainder surrounded him and crackled to life, blasting his metal shell with tendrils of electricity.

"No pain, no drain!" the villain giggled as Cyborg dropped to his knees gasping and cracking the concrete beneath him with the full weight of his body.

"Not bad." Jinx smiled, staring down at her former friend. "Wykkyd, wrap him up. We can take these two back with us."

"Not going anywhere..." Cyborg growled, eye snapping open as he lurched to his feet, slamming the bat-cloaked HIVE member back into a bridge tower with one hit and knocking See-more out with a quick uppercut to his jaw and taking a moment to congratulate himself with his typical bellowing warcry of "Boo-yah!"

Teeth clenched in rage, Jinx rushed, eyes flashing as her hands began to glow. She was forced to jump and vault high over Cyborg's back as he let out a long blast from his cannon that swept in an arc and followed her. Hugging her knees to her chest, Jinx whirled over and down, the blast-waves rippling up her back and coming closer than she was comfortable with. As Cyborg swung his massive body around with surprising grace, she landed neatly on her feet and swung her hands together in a clapping gesture that sent a bright pink wave straight at him.

The brutal attacks met in the middle.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The south end of the Bay Bridge was in sight.

Approaching the other end of Bay Bridge from a street running perpendicular to it, Robin took the chance to scan ahead in an attempt to locate the supposedly intense battle.

_Where are you?_ he wondered to himself, drawing closer to the bridge. He didn't want to spend the whole day looking for his friends in the city.

Then he heard it; a triumphant yell he'd come to recognize over the years that seemed to raise his team's spirits even in the most dire of situations.

"Cyborg.." he grinned, speeding the cycle up as though willpower alone could move the small vehicle. As he roared onto the bridge proper, something shot down in front of him. It was a pale green sphere, partially transparent and laughing.

The boy wonder had time for one confused expression before the orb let out a cry of panic, skidded on the dry pavement, and hit the R-cycle, bouncing off the front and flying into the air. Thinking quickly, Robin slammed the brakes to the point of snapping and used the momentum to launch himself into the air. As his glider unfolded in the sky, he managed to let out one explosive disc that caught the sphere and blew it to part just before his world was obscured in a tangling mess.

The area around him had quickly become a nearly impenetrable web of strands and strings. _Fang? _he thought as he retracted the glider's wings and pulled two birdarangs. Dropping through the quickly growing skein, he swung the small weapons like miniscule daggers. He was able to dodge some of the glistening webs and slice others.

Landing in a crouch, he leapt forward to meat the black and red blur that moved towards him, mentally running through the entire list of speedsters he knew and calling to mind the proper techniques for taking each of them down in a fight.

_Mas y Menos are stopped by a rolling leap and two chops at perpendicular angles._ he recited quietly _ Kid Flash is held off by forcing his speed and direction to lead him into an obstacle, _he remembered, _and against Flash himself I don't have a chance._

Barely avoiding the next assault of webbing with use of an ice disc, he jumped into the air, kicking off a rusted guardrail and extending his glider once more. He hadn't even gotten that high, and suddenly two strands fired up in a blur and tugged him down. Reacting quickly, Robin slapped the side of his belt, releasing his entire cache of freeze-discs. It wasn't his preferred method of attack, but he calculated that the spread of ice would hold his assailant in one place.

Webs blinked as he realized he was up to his knees in ice. It had barely been a second, but he knew that the chill from it would begin to affect his feet soon. It wasn't a thought he cared to dwell on.

"Whoa! What is your deal man?" he shouted as Robin sat in a rather undignified position on the road trying to get the webbing out of his cape.

"_My_ deal?" You're the one who attacked me first!" Robin sputtered, rolling onto his back with his rear in the air as he managed to get the webbing stuck to the roadside as well. The realization that there were probably people gathering in a crowd and staring at him didn't help.

"You tried to run me over!" Webs grunted, trying to crack the ice with his hands.

Eyes narrowed behind their masks, the two boys stared at each other at the edge of the bridge, ignoring the traffic and angrily blaring horns around them.

"You're just an arrogant spider-man copycat!"

"Your hair's got more oil in it than a car!"

"You're more annoying than Mas y Menos!" Robin growled, finally ripping the last of the webbing from his cape and getting to his feet covered in sticky patches of silk that made him look as though he had been living in a tomb for a few years.

"You couldn't get a date if you wanted to!" Webs laughed,finally cracking the ice free of the road and splitting it apart in a shower of glittering shards against a guardrail

"You're the worst excuse for a hero I've ever seen!"

"And your family's probably a failed circus act!"

A gasp of shock brought both teenagers back to reality. Hordes of cars were backed up around them and horns were blaring.

Starfire was standing in front of the crowd, still looking curiously out of of place in her Raven costume. Robin had expected her to look angry at the very least with one of them. What he saw instead was an unblinking expression that suggested both confusion and curiosity. When she spoke, her voice was fainter than he had ever heard it.

"You have not told me about your family."

Robin blinked once and tried to explain while tearing the persistent strands from his hair and person. "Starfire, it's-"

A deafening explosion from the bridge tore everyone's attention from the current matter at hand. Heads turning at once, their faces were bathed in a shimmering light that flared up and outward. A loud whooshing noise was heard as towers, cables and cars alike shook in the searing wave that spread from the center of the blast.

Starfire gasped and immediately shot into the air, dragging a gust of wind behind her from the pressure vacuum. Following her lead, Webs blasted two strands from his wrists and managed to snag a nearby streetlight. Stretching back slightly, he launched himself into the air over the heads of people still watching and let another line out at the cable towers, allowing him to swing faster by whizzing alongside the side of the battle-ravaged bridge itself.

Eyes wide behind his mask, Robin leapt back onto his cycle and shot it at a nearby corvette, jerking the front wheel up and using the bounce from the hood to leave an ugly tire mark and send himself flying over the crowd and crashing back to the pavement's unforgiving hard surface. The R-cycle was pushed to its limits as it raced towards the source of the explosion, skidding and speeding as though the rider's intent was to flee from an old and vengeful ghost.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Ten minutes.

He had sat there in the blistering sun trapped in a stupid eyeball for ten minutes.

_How did I get into this? _He wondered._ I can match Wolverine in combat and I can't escape from a little booby-trap that some one-eyed guy sets off? _

Then he heard it; a faint shredding noise.

_Oh cru-_

The webbing snapped and released prison and prisoner with a wet ripping noise.

Eryth dropped to the ground rapidly, fearing the worst when he hit as his ears picked up a loud cracking noise. When he dared to open his eyes, he was mildly surprised and relieved to find that his weight and the impact had managed the sphere.

"Easier done than said..." he muttered to himself, getting to his feet shakily. "Now which way did Harry go?"

At that point, a shining blast lit the cloudy sky beyond the buildings.

Despite being new to the city, Eryth had a good feeling that the city didn't let out explosions like the one he had just witnessed even on the fourth of July. He spun around and realized that with only one hand usable, he couldn't climb and maneuver through the city the way he usually did.

"Aw crud.." he said, realizing what he would have to resort to. Pulling the image inducer out of his pocket, he looked around quickly and ducked into a nearby alley. Hidden in the shadows, he clicked it off. "So much for the disguise. Now lets see if I've got this down." Gritting his teeth, he focused, trying again to pull off the trick he'd only begun working on in his room back at Xavier's.

Before he knew it, he'd sunk into the ground, leaving no sign that he had been there except for a few tiny crackling arcs of red lightning.


	3. Aftermath 1: Recovery

_Well that was a rather explosive finish for the last one...and a long wait._

_**Raze:** Ah yes..constant reviewer one. Well, this chapter's more of a setup for the storyline as it is...we'll see how it goes._

_**Quar:** The monkey meets kitty thing...honestly; I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out._

_Still out for Webs/Rae? ducks fireballs hurled by DS That one's iffy..._

_**Aceman/Raeforever: **Whoo...another reviewer from the land of IM. Yes, I wondered if anyone would catch the Daimstyl and DWD references there._

_**Becca:** O.o Hello...don't believe I've seen you before unless you have another name on IM. Thanks for the review _

**Chapter 3**

**Aftermath 1: Recovery**

_"Estimated cost of damage to the bridge has already shot into the millions. No deaths were reported and injuries are relatively low due to the lack of people in the area. Damage to the bridge it seems was more noticeable than damage to the people."_

_Aw no._

_The incident that occurred earlier today was a battle fought between a loose gathering of superpowered vigilantes sources now say go by "The Hive Five" and Jump City's local group of heroes known as the "Teen Titans". For more on them, we go to Michael. Mike, what is the general public's reaction to this...brawl since there seems to be no other word for it._

_That's hard to say Dana. Certainly the public is always happy to see the Titans in action defending the city, but response to this particular fight is more akin to confusion than gratitude. Bystanders report seemingly reckless actions from both sides such as one titan using a car for a stunt ramp while another person reports getting out of their mini-van only to have a gorilla puncture both tires and casually use the vehicle as a bat against a teenage girl. _

_You do make a fair point Mike,and while this does seem to be rather condemning of the titans, the other party is by no means blameless. An elderly woman reports losing her reading glasses when a witch stepped on them, and the aforementioned teenage girl is said to have made use of two parking meters as bludgeoning devices._

_Both parties involved are being investigated at this point and responsibility for the attack will be settled_

The surprisingly calm face of the female reporter vanished in the proverbial blink of an eye to make way for an overhead view of the devastation shown on a gleaming wallscreen. Cyborg saw the results of the battle in a way only he could; through two eyes.

The center of the bridge was smashed out and had sunk into the water, leaving some lighter and more buoyant debris still floating. Judging by the relative destruction, about fifty seven feet of the bridge was gone and eight cars with it. Several support cables were shredded and still floating. The broken ends floated slightly in the water.

_No. _he thought. Angrily, Cyborg powered his mechanical eye down to a black void and turned aside the cold matter-of-fact precision that was presented through its feed-cables to his altered brain. _How much damage did I do?_

A smoky haze shrouded much of the battle zone in a misty grey-brown, giving the crumbled edges of the Bay Bridge and its tall mast-like towers the illusion of an ocean graveyard. A dying whisper of a breeze curled the smoke around the towers and snakelike cables only made the scene all the more horrifying.

The waters had calmed from their initial outburst though still remained studded with the lazily floating wreckage of car parts and curved-surface guard rails.

The bridge surface itself was as it always was save for the eyesore that was the destroyed section. Both ends of the explosion's center were savagely torn to bits, girders protruding like shattered bone.

He was shocked.

Shocked and worried.

_Man, Rob's usually able to sweep collateral damage issues aside by reminding the authorities that it'd be worse without us there._ the hero thought grimly, remembering the starbolt-blasted frame of the Wolfram Concert Hall with Punk Rocket._ How's he gonna handle this one?_

Before he could even begin to formulate an answer to that question however, every light in the small room, including the videoscreen clicked off, plunging Cyborg into near total darkness. Only a few faint lines of yellow light slipped through a ring of narrow openings around him on the floor. Even Raven would have found the effect rather unsettling.. The effect gave everything a weak golden glow, keeping much of the room in shadows. A faint intake of breath was heard from behind the angled table on which Cyborg lay.

"He will not handle it." a thin voice said grimly from behind the mechanical titan. "Robin will fail."

Cyborg craned his neck around as far as he could, trying to get a glimpse of the elusive observer.

He blinked, glancing down at the restraints holding his body in place. The thickness and intricacy of the bindings gave him greater cause for concern. _I doubt even Star could break these on the best day of her life._

"Hey, why am I locked down?"

"..."

"This ain't the tower is it?"

"No."

Cyborg couldn't explain it, but the man left him with a burning chill that seemed to flood his entire body, not differentiating between metal and flesh. "Yo, who are you?"

"My my, you are the curious one." the man whispered. "My identity is not of your concern. Indeed, nothing here is your concern."

"Uh, I think a lot of this is very much my concern."

"You may think that if you wish. It will not do you any good."

"You ain't exactly the most talkative bad guy ever, are ya?"

_WHAT WOULD THAT MATTER, WHEN YOUR VERY SOUL HANGS BY A THREAD ABOVE THE ABYSS?_

Cyborg's body suddenly spasmed, jerking against its restraints as the left side of his head began sparking, sending faint pink tendrils of energy across his face. Before his body could rip itself in half however, the shock subsided and he slumped back limply, metal and flesh alike steaming.

"Do not exert yourself, mortal." the voice whispered.

_What kind of creep is this guy?_ Cyborg wondered.

"The kind of creep that could kill you if he set his mind to it." his captor said wickedly. "Don't act so surprised. I can read the mind of your companion like a book. What makes you think you would fare better?"

Cyborg strained to turn around in his bindings. The slow hum of a chair turning on a motor filled his ears and the dry rustle of robes was heard. The man made no sound as he seemed to glide smoothly past the helpless titan, a dark hood hiding his face from view and preventing his captive from managing a good look.

_Unknown location, unknown bad guy..and I'm trapped. At least this can't get any worse._ Cyborg grimaced.

The figure paused, still keeping his back to the prisoner.

"He's all yours, Sebastian." the man whispered, departing through a low archway that led out of the interrogation chamber and into blackness.

_Then again..._

Something beneath him sounded with a metallic click. With a low hum, the table on which Cyborg lay began moving upwards. When his face was within an inch of the ceiling, a great rush of air exploded from six thin cracks in the floor. Two minute charges blew apart at his wrists and feet, sundering the restraints and freeing him.

"Well now.." he grinned "This is looking better.."

There was a barely audible clicking noise, and the table tilted itself further over the center of a now-lit circle. Glancing nervously at the thin beams of light on it, Cyborg let himself slide from the table, landing on the ground without much noise at all. Looking down, he realized that the light from the circle's edges and the lines within it were not -as he had believed- lit on their own, but from something beyond.

"Oh boy." he gulped, realizing he was standing on a door.

In what felt like slow motion, the door opened; light pouring out from the ever-growing circular opening. Time seemed to stop as the last of the six panels retracted.

Cyborg let out a gasp of surprise and fell-

-five feet.

"Heh..." he chuckled nervously, sweat dripping down his forehead. "Thought I was a goner there.." He stood, looking around outside the circular hole in the ground. "Thought yer little trap would work, didn't 'cha?" he grinned, moving eagerly for the edge.

Then the floor dropped open again, plunging him down once more into a far deeper tunnel; one whose bottom he could not see.

"Aw, that is not cool!"

Lights flared around him, illuminating the shaft to a blinding degree. The silver walls raced by in a blur, reminding Cyborg of a city in the clouds from a galaxy far far away.

Least I still got both hands... he thought, angling his body towards the wall and sliding along the surface as his metal fingers attempted to find hold along the sleek plates. All he succeeded in however, was sending forth showers of sparks and heating his fingertips to the point of smoking.

Then, without warning a dark shape appeared in the middle of the plunge, seeming to blot out all light as it grew around him, sealing the titan in total darkness.

Just as quickly as the shadow had come however, it was gone.

Gasping doggedly, Cyborg found himself on his hands and knees, arms threatening to give away and leave him flat on his face from exhaustion. The fall had taken m ore out of him than he would have thought. His once-watering eye focused and he realized he was staring down at a golden-yellow floor, layered with thin six-sided tiles that seemed suddenly familiar to him.

"So...you have come." someone said with cold mirth. "It has been too long since you have been here."

Cyborg began to rise, joints protesting as he stood against the will of Exhaustion-

-and was sent flying back against the wall by some unseen force.

"Did you think you had the power to face me?" his adversary said, voice growing dark. "I carry a power greater than you could ever hope to possess."

Eyes screwed shut against the pain that wracked his metal body, Cyborg groaned and leaned his head forward, bunching his steel-sinewed muscles as he tried to pull away from the wall in which he was anchored. Ever so slowly, his shut eyes widened into thin narrows, and then bulged open.

Standing before him was a young man, possibly not much older than he himself. The boy's skin was almost as pale as Raven's but possessing a bluish tint to it. Though his appearance was one of a youth; the swept-back hair and pointed chin left no doubt of his identity in Cyborg's mind.

"Blood..."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_Headache...what happened?_

"The little witch is awake." someone nearby growled hoarsely. Though soft and low, the noise still stabbed at Raven's head more painfully than one of Beast Boy's punchlines.

"Hey, she's lyin' with her legs ou-" someone giggled.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself, See-more. We don't need to hear them." the voice said again, this time laced with anger.

"You haven't even been here a day! Which of y'all thinks we should beat up the newbie?" a familiar southern voice shouted happily.

Raven groaned at the noise, knowing what was about to come. She'd heard it before, but wasn't sure she could bear it.

"Ah'll beat him up for ya!"

"Naw, Ah'll do it!"

"Naw ya won't, Billy! Billy here'll do it!"

"Billy'll take him out!"

Raven finally reached her limit and made to rise from her prone position and lash out at the people around her. Unfortunately, her mind was stifled in that aspect, and she found herself unable to even use her soul-self or any other powers, much less move her limbs.

_What's..._"What's happened to me?" she asked herself, finally finding her voice.

The first thing she saw upon finally opening her eyes was an unwelcome sight; the luminous green orb that was See-more's single roving eye.

Managing to speak for her dignity, Raven whispered angrily up at him. "Eye on my face, you jerk."

The villain flashed her a toothy grin, before being shoved away. Another face loomed over her, almost as pale as her own; eyes hidden by a thin black mask.

"The inhibitor's working." he whispered in his low voice. "She couldn't take us if she wanted to."

"Its all thanks to me, you little barf-drinkers!" Gizmo yelled from out of Raven's field of vision. "She'd cream your little butts without me!"

"Yeah, but at least we're still on a team!" Billy laughed. "You're just a tech-boy for Brother Blood."

"If you can call being a ragtag group of thugs a team." the masked boy grinned. "You guys had no motivation in your last job."

"At least we had a job!" the pint-sized former HIVE Five member sputtered, adding a muttered "toiletlicker" to the end of his jab.

"Yeah...robbing museums and regularly getting your butts kicked...successful job that was."

"This time it'll be better!" Billy grinned.

"Tell me about it!" another Billy shouted from his seat on a battered refrigerator.

"This time.." a third whispered from behind a fortress of soft red couch cushions. "This time, Blood's gonna let u-"

"Quiet." the masked boy said suddenly, eyes flaring a deep red. "Are you really stupid enough to discuss this sort of thing when she's awake?"

"You talk like she'll escape." See-more snickered. "She couldn't get out of here if her life depended on it."

"Especially not with Psimon here." Billy grinned. "That guy's cool...with his little pink-glowing brain and all."

"Ya, but you ain't brave enough to tell him that to his face, you yellow-butted cud-muncher!" Gizmo flustered, pouting from his chair over at a crowded worktable.

"And you believe you are?" the hooded man whispered from the doorway. How long he had been there; they did not know, but the odd gleam in his eyes as he drew his hood back told them that the psion had heard enough. Rubbing his forehead where flesh joined with metal and glass, he sighed in exasperation at the collected villains and their prisoner. "Your master believes you necessary for whatever plan he guards in his mind, and I will go along with it for now, but I will not tolerate the foolishness that seems to occupy your time."

"Foolishness?" Gizmo squawked. "We got a Teen Titan here! You couldn't do that if you tried, you fishbowl-headed brown-noser!"

Psimon's eyes flashed. "Indeed?"

Gizmo suddenly fell forward, beating his head upon the delicate instruments arrayed on his desk as though a bothersome mosquito were flitting about his face. Leaping wildly, he crashed to the ground, scratching frantically at his face which seemed to shine and crack.

Psimon smiled cruelly, watching the boy's skin suddenly harden and shine as though it were becoming glass. "Fishbowl head indeed." he chuckled, eyes dimming as he watched the unwitting victim fall onto his back. Ignoring the gasping as Gizmo's face painfully returned to its normal state, he looked at the others with a piercing gaze. None of the others in the room dared to speak, fearing their words would be turned into a living nightmare by the greater villain. "Yet the child has provided me with one small morsel of information. Which titan was it that you captured?" he asked, eyes roving the room.

"The girl." the masked boy answered quickly. "Raven, I believe."

They backed away as Psimon's eyes suddenly glowed again. Fortunately, no punishment was forthcoming, but when the glow faded they saw his eyes had become a deep red and his grey eyebrows now paled; turning to a papery white color. His normally stern face cracked like dried plaster, splitting into a malicious grin.

"Raven? How interesting..." he hissed, voice seeming to echo with a deeper being speaking behind him.

_"What's going on?" she asked, snapping into her mind._

_"How did you live?" something roared._

_Raven whirled around, obsidian cloak billowing about her ebony skin and leotard. She found herself jerked from her Nevermore Realm back to an earth._

_A dead earth. _

_An earth she saw only in her old nightmares. Flames fell from the sky like a scorching rain, burning the streets, shattering the buildings, and hissing into the oceans of molten rock that flooded the surface. No life existed on the planet save the four-eyed crows that called harshly in the never-ending twilight of the red sky._

_"This is what should be. It is not." the same voice whispered. "The Gem lives. She should be no more."_

_Raven gasped, an echoing sound from her astral form in the astral world. "This future was stopped"_

_"Stopped, but not destroyed." the ancient form said from behind her. _

_Raven spun around, glaring at the red-eyed shade of a man. "Who are you?"_

_"The better and more capable of your father's associates."_

_"Trigon did not share power." _

_  
"Trigon DOES not share power." Psimon smiled, breaking into a mocking laughter as Raven stood back, eyes wide. "Did you think you could destroy the slayer of dimensions completely? A Demon is not so easily vanquished."_

_"To return to earth then would destroy him." Raven retorted, scrambling for some measure of confidence. "He was weakened in his last attempt-"_

_"-because last time help was unwilling. You may have summoned him, but some part of your heart prayed the crossing would fail. This time, he shall have the power he needs to arrive at full strength."_

_"There won't be a 'this time'." Raven answered firmly._

Psimon's eyes flickered open again, and he looked past the HIVE villains at Raven, still lying unconscious but now sweating on the medical bed. "Oh I think there will be a 'this time', Daughter of Scath." he grinned wickedly, turning and making his way across interrogation chamber. "Students of Blood," he called back. "Make of that what you will."

"So we're going to beat the titans?" Billy asked, while a double popped behind him and added on a short "this time?" with a grin.

The laughter of Psimon was the only answer.


	4. Aftermath 2: Ambition

_**Raze: **Yes...Psimon...the "fishbowl" head as Gizmo called him. He's here. So...yeah..this could get ugly later on._

_**Quarion: **So you beat Raze to reviewing...cool. Don't expect a prize though :P _

_Don't we all like Gizmo's little mouth-spout-off abilities?_

_**TheAceMan: **Eager for Fixit to show up, eh? You never know..he just might._

_**Nankotsu: **Ah, I'll have to see how much of a crossover this winds up becoming. Really, the only mavel/dc mix is in Eryth's origins. I'm not sure if it'll become a huge part of this or not._

_**becca: **Raven captured? It's quite easy actually. Anyone can be captured if you knock them out _

**Chapter 4:**

**Aftermath 2: Ambitions**

_How many times has this happened?_ Beast Boy thought, sitting uncomfortably on a metal stool in the medical room. Behind him, two bodies lay still, leaving the green titans slouched over the flickering control panels that would occasionally beep and wrack the silence of the dull room. Robin was downstairs in the Evidence Room, and Starfire was watching Jinx. That left Beast Boy upstairs making sure the bruised and scratched forms of Kitten and Fang didn't leap up and attempt an attack of any kind. Thankfully, this time the villains had been taken down outside the tower and the structure of the building itself was in top condition, _unlike..._ he thought. _Terra._ _How many times have we been betrayed like this?_

Then it hit him.

Sighing as he looked gloomily up at the ceiling, his mind wandered back to the last time a friend had suddenly turned on them without warning. The reaction had been shock, fear, anger, and hurt. He realized with a guilty twinge that this time, there had been none of that.

There had only been a casual and cold indifference. Jinx had showed up with a crowd of the usual villains in the usual street in the usual style and no one had even wondered first why she was among them. After all, it was usually what had happened in the past. The fight had been swift, and no words had been spoken between any of them; even from Cyborg. The thought that they had just methodically taken down someone who had joined their side only months earlier shook him.

instinct. It had all been instinct. She had only been with them for a short while, so she hadn't really begun to feel like a friend anyway.

_Liar._ He thought, admonishing himself. _She was becoming a friend._

_It had been only a week since the overthrow of the Brotherhood, and the return to Jump City. The celebration was racous, with several boats and platforms floating beneath the structure on the water in a hodge-podge raft of sorts. The structure bobbed about on the water awkwardly, threatening to tip the occasional cup of soda or knock over a pitcher and drench someone's socks. Multiple poles stood at seemingly random intervals across the raft's surface, some holding tents, while others kept flags and table umbrellas in a fixed position. The entire thing looked like a floating circus arena; a landmark in the middle of an otherwise featureless ocean. At that point however, focus was only on one person._

_"Oh yeah dudes! Who took out the biggest bad guy of them all?" Beast Boy grinned, bright hawaiian shirt flapping in the wind as he stood atop a table and silently struggling to stay upright while Cyborg casually kept nudging the table leg with his foot. "DUDE! Cut that out; I'm the celebrity here!" the changeling whined._

_"All celebrities fall one time or another." Cyborg grinned, lightly shoving the table._

_The thin wooden structure suddenly toppled, sending Beast Boy, two punch bowls, and a George Foreman Grill into the cool water with a hiss of coals and a panicked scream._

_Noticing the look Robin had shot him, -as well as the fact that his friend had just reflexively crushed his soda can into a dripping mess- Cyborg backed away quickly, raising his hands with the "I'm innocent" gesture._

_Robin's eyes narrowed and he turned to the other likely cause behind Beast Boy's tumble._

_Jinx was sitting only a few feet away in one of the white beach chairs wearing a light pink tank top that matched her hair and a black skirt that stopped just above her knees. Trying to play innocent, she kept a hardcover copy of "Hannibal" leaning against her legs, appearing quietly absorbed in the book. Catching Robin's glare however, she dropped the innocent disguise and looked between him and Beast Boy, pouting with a badly faked "who, me?" look that caused another vein in the boy wonder's forehead to twitch. Before he could even say anything however, he slipped in the soda he'd spilled and tumbled back, knocking himself and Beast Boy back into the water._

_"Dude! I was just about to get out!" Beast Boy whined, stringy green hair plastering his face again._

_"But now that you are in, we may all enjoy the playing of the water!" Starfire cried out, leaping into the water and knocking Beast Boy silly. Robin decided to clamber back onto the raft in a fashion that didn't involve him noticeably staring at Starfire, whose summer dress was now plastered tightly against every inch of her body._

_"You realize," a dry voice said from behind the giggling Jinx. "that this is your fault?"_

_Jinx's shoulders twitched momenarily as though she were about to leap into the air and attack, before Raven spoke again._

_"Don't worry. I didn't mean that in a threatening way." Raven said, one corner of her mouth twitching up._

_"Still made me jump." Jinx sighed, shutting the book._

_"You just dunked two members of the Teen Titans. If you were still an enemy, we would have attacked you by now."_

_"Probably." the witch smiled, glancing over. "Don't you mean three?"_

_"Two. Starfire jumped in herself."_

_"No." Jinx said. "Three."_

_The wood beneath Raven's feet, so assuredly hard and steady before, now found itself damp and thin in a pale flash._

_"You did not ju-" Raven began, before dropping through the hole into the water._

_"Well that wasn't nice..." a familiar voice said, amused._

_Jinx had been dreading this moment. While the other titans an honoraries were still on the floating raft-party structure, Cyborg was the one standing closest to her._

_"Who said being a titan meant you had to be nice all the time?" she replied with some degree of fake politeness. "There's always room for mischief."_

_"But never any real harm done between frie-." he added, stopping as he realized where the discussion was headed._

_There was a momentary awkward silence between the two. Thankfully, no one else on the flotilla noticed it. _

_"You didn't just come over here to tell me I was being a bad girl, did you?"_

_"...Look, I-"_

_"Still hoping to apologize and forget everything like that?" Jinx asked, snapping her fingers. Cyborg backed up half a step, before realizing it was just a snap, not a spell. "You still don't trust me."_

_"Hey, I trust you more th-"_

_"Than a villain? There was a time you know, when you trusted me completely." she whispered. "Or was that a lie also?"_

_Cyborg froze. How could he have trusted her completely at the Academy, knowing he was there to destroy it, and yet remain wary of her now, when she was on their side, as a titan? Even the computerized half of his brain, so acute when there was a chronoton detonator to be de-fused, couldn't stop what was to follow_

_The moment of silence was short-lived, but long enough for them both.  
_

_"We can still be friends," Jinx sighed. "But I can't forget what you did to us- to me."_

Perhaps she couldn't forget it, and it seemed that the titans couldn't forget her either.

Beast Boy sat uncomfortably on a metal stool in the medical room. Behind him, two bodies twitched slightly, and suddenly moved, leaving the green titan slumped unconscious over the flickering control panels that shut off with a whisper, adding to the silence of the dull room.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Starfire drifted uneasily down the long dark hallways of the Titans tower, silently hoping for some sign of hope from Robin. Feet skimming inches above the hard floor, she moved past the blank walls and occasional storage closet quietly. Eventually, she arrived at the door to Robin's evidence room where she supposed he was.

That worried her.

Ever since the battle on the bridge and their return to the tower, Robin had promptly sealed himself inside what now seemed to be his favorite place in the tower. Indeed, he hadn't even come out to eat or speak with the two villains from HIVE that they had retrieved.

As it was, Cyborg and Raven were unaccounted for, as was Webs' friend who'd barely been in the fight at all. She only hoped that one of them could return with some good news soon. Mind still back at the bridge, Robin had sent Webs out on a quick scouting mission to try and find the missing titans and the other newcomer.

Starfire had at first seemed glad that Robin was being more open with the newer titans, but she caught the look on Robin's face as he told the speedster to "Find them, now." It wasn't a team-leader's order, shouted with gusto in the heat of battle. It was a dark command given from one grudgingly accepting ally to another. From what she could see of Webs, he had a deep desire to do what was right and typically endeavored to remain as polite as possible

Unfortunately to her, it seemed that his temper got in the way at times.

Perhaps that was why Robin seemed so angry with him. He had put his foot in his mouth -something Starfire initially tried doing after she had heard the expression- before, but why did this time seem so much different? Robin had been called many things in life, but the insult at the bridge seemed to affect him in a way she had never seen before. Except for the simple command to Webs, he hadn't spoken a word; keeping his jaw locked and face hardened as though moving a muscle would unleash something frightening.

_"You're the worst excuse for a hero I've ever seen!"_

_"And your family's probably a failed circus act!"_

They had both said something they hadn't meant to, and the reactions puzzled her. When she had last called Cyborg a "torstafian barglenoff" for accidently causing the fire supression systems to flood her room, he'd gotten over the insult within a few hours.

It had been more than four hours now, and neither Robin nor Webs were showing any signs of getting along again. Truly, she had not meant to call Cyborg something as bad as a torstafian barglenoff since he wasn't one, but it had just slipped out.

The comments at the bridge also had "slipped out", but both sides were acting as if they were true. Robin seemed to take it personally as though his family was indeed a "failed circus act".

"Robin..." she whispered to the darkness of the suddenly cold hallway. "What he said to you...in the city: Is that why you lock yourself up and keep away from your friends?"

"Waiting for your friend to come out?" someone said suddenly, causing Starfire to shoot a couple more feet into the air with a squeak. Recovering her sense of balance in the air, she whirled around, facing a familiar face.

"Jinx...you are awake?" she asked, glancing around nervously and realizing she was quite alone with someone whose true intentions were unknown. True, the sorceress had a bandage across one eye and one sleeve of her outfit was torn and still bloodied, leaving her arm in a sling, but she was known to possess incredible agility even when hindered.

"Well I'm not asleep if that's what you mean." she said, rolling her eyes.

Suddenly, Starfire was in her face, eyes blazing a bright and furious green. "Why were you with our enemies? We believed you had joined the Titans and given up your life of wickedness!"

"I know." the spellcaster sighed, putting on a distressed face. "I tried, but your lives are just a tad too unrewarding. Sure, you get to go out in public, get fame and all that, but where's the power? Where's the recognition? You people _supposedly_ saved the world and where's the gratitude?"

"A hero would not ask for gratitude from those who have been saved." Starfire responded clearly. "A hero does what they must because they feel an obligation to do so."

"Touching, but I've got a life to live. I don't want it held back by ungrateful people," she sighed, eye suddenly glowing "or by would-be righteous do-gooders."

"The Kid Flash told us you were his friend." Starfire pressed, still hoping she could use the spellcaster's old insecurity against her before a fight broke out. "Why have you abandoned your friend?"

The sorceress hesitated for a moment, once again looking nervous and unsure. "He may have taught me that I didn't have to be a villain, but he didn't make the best case for the hero life either. He hung around for a couple weeks after the Brotherhood fell, but after that he was off again at lightspeed, probably trying to find another villainess with insecurities to "save". He's not just fast in the physical sense."

Starfire blinked for a moment, seeing not Jinx, but another titan before her; another product of a romance that had seemed so perfect, yet destined to crumble from the beginning. Dimly, the words told to her by Robin echoed in her mind.

_"I'm not some sad little girl who's waiting to be rescued!"_

Jinx's eye flashed brighter, and her fingernails began to glow as the hex-power built within her fingers.

"Tell Victor this makes us even..." she hissed.

Starfire backed away quickly, starbolts at the ready as Jinx whirled into a pirouette, radiating arcs of energy from her delicate fingertips.

"Watch it!" someone shouted, blurring between them. Starfire backed up, catching sight briefly of the red and black form that shot around her. Jinx's attack found itself soaking into a sheet of webbing like water into a sponge. Her eye flared again and the spell-infused webbing warped back and caught Webs perfectly, binding him like a mummy. Using that trap and Starfire's concern for her fallen teammate, Jinx took off at a run, heading for an exit. She flashed once more, and she took a running leap from the tiled hallways, crashing against the door and sending it soaring from its framework with a pink tearing noise. Battered even more by the impact, she sent the metal door skidding across the room, angling up as it ripped through the couch and shattered the center window in the main living area, allowing her to sail through in a shower of broken glass.

Starfire flew after her, rocketing into the dust-covered lounge just in time to see the sorceress drop out over the ground below and catch a thin cord and swing her way up towards the roof of the tower one-handed. Determined not to let Jinx escape, she followed her out-

-and was lashed across the face with a blazing whip.

"Didn't have time to use this little toy before!" an all-to-familiar voice laughed from above her. Reeling, Starfire spun around and caught sight of a dull grey hovercraft, almost twice the size of the T-Car. It was mostly egg-shaped, save for two engine pods that seemed to flow outward from its rear. Two similar protrusions with claws came from the front end and gave the vehicle the overall look of an open-air deep-sea explorer. Vision clearing, she shot herself at Jinx, who was still dangling like a small piece of bait. Expecting it to be an easy shot, she didn't bother readying any starbolts for the attack.

It was a mistake.

Spinning herself on the lifeline, Jinx managed to swing one foot up, connecting with Starfire's chin and knocking her back. The joint impact also left Jinx spinning in mid-air as well however. Undeterred, the alien regained her composure and zoomed forward again, eyes glowing as Jinx righted herself on the cord. This time, Jinx flipped herself up, tucking her legs in and bringing herself and her feet down as Starfire went under, slamming both heels into her spine and dropping her back at the tower, where she hit, sending up a crashing cloud of dust and rocks.

"Not too bad, Kitten. I didn't think that Beast Brat alone could keep you and Fang down." Jinx smirked. Fang stood at the doorway to the craft, mandibles clicking as he held the using only his jaws.

"Hurry up.." he grunted, line held between rows of needlelike teeth. "I'm not standing here all day so you can play swing."

"I've got one arm tied up here you know. I can't exactly climb."

"Women...always making men do the work." the spider-boy groaned.

"What was that, Fangy-poo?" a screechy voice cooed.

"Nothing."

Positioning his feet and hands against the interior of their escape "shuttle", Fang tensed up. Mandibles and teeth clicking again, he began reeling Jinx back in like a dangling fish. It wasn't easy, but he soon had her pulled up to a height where she could get an easy handhold on the edge of the craft.

Clambering over the edge of the vehicle, she dropped herself into a bare metal seat, wishing momentarily for the cushioned comfort of the old T-Car.

Fang hissed back a positive sounding grunt as he moved back to his seat in front of Jinx and turned to look at the wrinkled face in front of him on the "dashboard".

"Get us out of here, Instigator, NOW." he emphasized, seeing Starfire begin to recover from her state of confusion below.

The face sank back into the console with a wet squelching noise and seemed to unfold from the front of the craft, sweeping back its broad forehead and turning the open-air hovercraft into a macabre-looking escape pod. Starfire let loose with her eyebeams, grazing Instigator's underside as her starbolts began walling the mechshifter in a green blur of light and energy. Disregarding his companions' comfort inside, the metal HIVE graduate swung his body around, rocketing through the barrage and extending his arms.

"Take her with us?" the mechshifter's voice buzzed inside with a metallic whir.

"And have her break out?" Jinx sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just get us away from this place." The spellcaster slumped back in her seat, wishing the hard metal were the bean bag that she had back in her room at the Academy_. This team's better than the last crowd of jokers I was with, but they're still slow in the head._

The quartet shot away, headed for their own safe haven. Below them, Starfire floated gloomily above the tower, pain from her bruises dulled by one thought that echoed throughout her mind. Terra had betrayed them for control over her power, and Jinx had done it for a road that would lead to recognition and acknowledgement. If humans such as the Titans and HIVE students already had powers, why would they wish for more? In the suddenly grey afternoon, Starfire found that her thoughts were not her own.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

After years of waiting, it was time.

The board was set.

His opponent was unknown, but he would still play his game.

In the darkness of the room, lit only by a single blue light from overhead, a glimmering black claw touched a single white bishop. The claw twitched, as though considering it's next move. A deep sigh was heard before a thumb swung in from behind and plucked the piece from the cold metal chessboard. There was a sucking snap, and a series of short, fuzzy squeaks were heard in the darkness. The bishop swung back into view, now blackened with faint smudges of white color showing beneath the newly applied black surface.

The board was set.

In the blue light, the faintly glowing white pieces found themselves short one number, while at the head of the black lineup, a smudge-blackened bishop stood, out of place from either side.

As he considered the next move, the figure in the darkness quietly tapped the capped end of the marker on his teeth, permitting his odd grin to show in the luminance of the azure bulb.


End file.
